Disney's Princess and the Frog
Comes to New Orleans
Disney Animated Feature Film Inspires New Orleans Art Exhibit

Not since the Superdome premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996 has a Disney animated feature stirred so much excitement and anticipation in New Orleans. Disney’s Princess and the Frog, in theatres December 11, is set in New Orleans and has inspired a four-month-long exhibition of classic Disney art at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Although The Princess and the Frog story is set in New Orleans and the nearby bayou country, the movie will premiere simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles Thanksgiving day, then arrive at New Orleans theaters a few weeks. The NOMA exhibition, titled “Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio,” opens its doors November 15 and runs through March 14, 2010.

“Dreams Come True” at the New Orleans Museum of Art

The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) premieres “Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio” on Sunday, November 15. This is a major exhibition featuring more than 600 original historic artworks, many of which date back to the 1930’s when Walt Disney himself drew; pioneering new techniques and innovations in the art of film animation. In the process, Disney Studios shaped such legendary animated features as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.

The NOMA exhibition will also include artwork from Disney’s Princess and the Frog.

Visitors will encounter themed rooms showcasing artwork related to specific animated features. Arranged chronologically by year of release, the rooms will feature, in order: Silly Symphonies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Princess and the Frog. Film clips will accompany the artwork to demonstrate how individual sketches, paintings and cells lead to a finished celluloid masterpiece. An adjacent Education Area will highlight Disney's long association with music and will serve as a mini library for animation research and storytelling programs.

NOMA is located in City Park, conveniently situated at the end of Esplanade Avenue. It is also easily reachable from the French Quarter and downtown New Orleans via the North Carrollton Branch of the Canal Street Streetcar Line. Hours are Wednesdays 12 noon-8 p.m. and Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (closed legal holidays). For other information call 658-4100 or visit www.noma.org.

Disney’s Princess and the Frog
In Theatres December 11

In a year which saw the inauguration of the nation’s first African American president, the Disney Studios offer their first-ever African American animated feature princess in a long, storied history of such films dating back to the 1930s. The beautiful young Tiana will now take her place alongside Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, the Little Mermaid and Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) as Disney fantasy heroines of royal blood (or those who marry into it).

In the movie, when the free-spirited, jazz-loving Prince Naveen of Maldonia comes to New Orleans, a deal with a shady voodoo doctor turns sour and the once-suave royal is turned into a frog. In a desperate attempt to be human again, he induces Tiana to kiss him but the favor backfires and she is turned into a frog instead. The quest for both of them to become human again leads them on a hilarious adventure through the mysterious bayous of south Louisiana to the banks of the Mississippi and back to New Orleans in time to celebrate Mardi Gras.

The film’s supporting cast includes a 200-year-old voodoo priestess (a Marie Laveau prototype), a lovesick Cajun firefly and a trumpet-playing alligator named (what else?) Louis. The sound track features the voices of Anika Noni Rose (as Princess Tiana), Oprah Winfrey, Keith David, Jim Cummings, John Goodman, Jenifer Lewis, Bruno Campos, Michael-Leon Wooley, Peter Bartlett and Terrence Howard. The music score is produced by award-winning composer and Louisiana native Randy Newman with contributions fellow Louisianians Dr. John, Terance Blanchard, Terrance Simien, and Pinnacle Gospel Choir.